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Stop NRA lies on “UN Gun Grab”

Several times last week, as I went from Senate office to Senate office on Capitol Hill, another group had beat me to the punch: The National Rifle Association.

The NRA isn’t content to just quash reasonable gun control in the US. They’re working double-time spreading lies about the effort to stop the spread of weapons to human rights abusers. They’ve dubbed it the “UN Gun Grab.”

The NRA is exploiting their members by creating a fiction of a nefarious UN agency with the power to take Americans’ guns.

In fact, the Arms Trade Treaty targets arms merchants that sell weapons to human rights violators in places like Bahrain and Rwanda. It would only regulate trade between countries — not within them. Without a treaty, this deadly trade will remain virtually unregulated. The Arms Trade Treaty would save thousands of lives and prevent atrocities fueled by these weapons.

U.S. negotiators helped block the treaty last year, but we have another opportunity with the upcoming conference in March. Your senators can help by signing a letter to the president supporting the treaty, but they’re not going to do it if they only hear from the NRA.

When I see gun violence tragedies – whether in Newtown or Syria – I often feel powerlessness mixed with sorrow. But we are not powerless. Senators are political animals. When constituents stand up in numbers they notice.